Folding chair.



No. 070,200. PATENTED Nov. 5, 1907. w. H. THOMAS.

FOLDING CHAIR.

APPLIOATION nun MAB. 8. 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES: INV'EJVTOR NWW 0 n flTTORW'E Y.

THE NORRIS PETERS co., \s/Asmzvcrmvv o. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. THOMAS, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGEARTHUR THOMAS, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

FOLDING CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 5, 1907.

. Application filed March 8, 1907- Serial No. 361,204-

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. THOMAS, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of NewYork, have invented new and useful Improvements in Folding Chairs, ofwhich the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the class offolding chairs in which the rearlegs are pivotally connected to the front ends of the rockersand havethe front legs connected to the rear end portions of the rockers andslidable lengthwise thereof. And the invention consists in improvedmeans for more securely connecting the rear legs to the rockers ashereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of my improvedrocking-chair in its erect position; Fig. 2 shows the same in its foldedposition; Fig. 3 is a front view of the chair; and Fig. 4 is a sectionalview on line 33in Fig. 3.

11- denote the rockers which are provided with longitudinal grooves 2 intheir inner sides.

-3 represents the rear supporting legs which are curved correspondinglyto the curvature of the rockers to allow them to lie parallel andcompactly upon the tops of the rockers when the chair is folded as shownin Fig. 2 of the drawings. The front ends of the rear supporting legs 3-are pivotally connected to the front end portions of the rockers bymeans of metal straps or links 4. A transverse rail 5 is attached at itsends to the central portions of said legs to tie them together and atthe same time serve to support the front supporting legs as hereinafterdescribed.

To relieve the links 4 from excessive strain and to provide a morepositive and secure support for the rear supporting legs 3 when thechair is erect and occupied 1 provide the tops of the front end portionsof the rockers with rigid upwardly projecting hooks -22, which havetheir open ends presented toward the rear of the chair to receive thelower ends of the legs 3 which are thus stepped in the hooks, into whichthey are forced by the inclined links 4. The lower ends of said legs areconvexed and the closed ends of the hooks -22 are concavedcorrespondingly.

-6 represents the front supporting-legs the lower slidably across thetop of the tie-rail 5 and are thus supported thereon. The centralportions of the front supporting legs have attached to them downwardlyprojecting lugs 24 which engage the front of the tie-rail 5 and serve asstops to the descending movement of the legs 6 when the chair is in itserect position. Directly over the legs -6- are rollers 8- pivoted to theinner sides of the rear supporting legs 3 and bearing on the tops of thefront supporting legs 6 to guide said legs in their movements.

To the upper ends of the front supporting legs -6- is framed atransverse bar 9 which is cylindrical and carries upon it the frontportion of the seat 10, which is connected to said bar by means of abracket -1l rigidly attached to the underside of the seat, preferably atthe center of its width, and formed with an annular bearing whichembraces the cylindrical bar 9-. The rear end of the seat is attached toa transverse bar 12 which is pivoted at its ends to the upper ends ofthe rear supporting legs -3.

To the underside of the seat are rigidly attached depending lugs 13-which are disposed to engage the front of the cylindrical bar 9 directlyopposite the attachment of the upper ends of the front supporting legs.Said lugs serve as additional stops to the movement of the frontsupporting legs and seat when the seat is subjected to the weight of aperson occupying it. i

The upper ends of the rear supporting legs 3 are formed with upwardextensions l4- which constitute the side rails of the back of-the chair.

15- represents the arms of the chair. Said arms are pivoted to theaforesaid side rails l4 and are supported at their front ends by meansof props -16 which are hinged to the undersides of the arms as shown at17 and are adapted to fold onto the undersides of the arms. The props 16are pivotally mounted on the ends of the bar 9 which is formed withtrunnions 18 passing through correspondingly shaped holes in the lowerends of the props 16 which are retained thereon by means of heads -19-attached to the protruding ends of the trunnions.

To allow the chair to befolded compactlyas shown in Fig. 2 of thedrawings, the rear supporting legs 3 are curved correspondingly to thecurvature of the rockers as hereinbefore stated, and in order to allowthe seat 10 to fold simultaneously and closely onto the back of thechair and cause the front supporting legs to lie snugly upon the back ofthe seat, I form the upper end portions of the front supporting legs 6-straight as shown at 20-. The lower end portions of the said legs 1curve or deflect downwardly at the center as shown at 21 to allow themto pass over the rollers 8 when the chair is folded as aforesaid.

What I claim as my invention is:

In a folding chair having the rear legs foldahle onto the tops of therockers, the combination with said members, of hooks projecting; fromthe tops of the front end portions of the rockers and disposed withtheir Open ends toward the rear of the chair to receive the lower endsof the rear legs, and links pivotally connecting the said legs to therockers and inclined with their upper ends toward the front of thechair, to force said legs into said hooks as set forth.

WILLIAM H. THOMAS.

Witnesses:

J. J. LAAss, G. KAISER.

